Hospital infections affect thousands of patients each year at hospitals and other health care facilities.
It is estimated 94,360 patients in the United States annually develop an invasive infection and nearly one in five die as a result.
The number of deaths exceeds those caused by HIV/AIDS or homicides each year.
A national study looked at cases of methacillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), a virulent drug-resistant bacteria.
The study found that 85 percent of invasive infections were associated with health care treatment, including those contracted at hospitals and nursing homes.
The study also confirmed previous research indicating long-term care centers, such as nursing homes, are “breeding grounds” for infection.
There has been growing concern that MRSA has spread to other community-based facilities, such as schools and gyms.
Hospitals are also seeing an increase in the infection Clostridium difficile (C-diff), which can cause severe intestinal illnesses. In one study, hospitals reported a greater incidence of C-diff than MRSA.
C-diff, which is also resistant to many antibiotics, is spread by feces spores that are impervious to most conventional cleaners and even alcohol-based hand sanitizers that can eliminate MRSA threats.
Although MRSA is generally considered more dangerous because it can prove fatal, recent reports note that a more dangerous, and sometimes fatal, form of C-diff has emerged in the last decade.
If you or someone you love contracted a hospital infection that resulted in serious illness, injury or death, contact us today.
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